Trimming & finishing some stuff today. Trying to get a bunch of stuff done in the studio. So much easier with my Bison Trimming Tools & Giffin Grip!!

Still staying safe… still social distancing… still trying to get some work done. I’m hoping that when all this craziness passes… people will be flooding to the art fairs to stock-up on some new pottery… and I want to be ready!!! Until then, I’m gonna keep making pots to help keep my own “sanity.” I hope everyone out there is staying safe, staying strong & staying healthy!!!

Painting black slip on white porcelain… kinda antithetical,
but setting up a good “canvas” for a little sgraffito carving!

So it’s never quite as easy as you would think.. it takes several layers and several paintbrushes full of black slip before you start to get a nice even banded layer. But with a bit of paintbrush perseverance…. I finally got them done, back under plastic waiting for them to set-up a bit more… and then some day soon I’ll start carving some sgraffito patterns into the black banded areas!

Just a little early morning stamping going on… no sunrise bike ride in the rain!!! Instead, playing with some stamped patterns on these little porcelain bowls.

All stamped for now… back under plastic so they can stiffen up a bit more… and then I get to trim some footrings onto the bottoms of them!

When asked if I have any greenware to help fill a bisque kiln… the answer is almost always YES!!! This impromptu loading happened thanks to Mary who only had a few pieces from a workshop she taught that needed to be fired… and I’m ALWAYS willing to help!

This latest batch of porcelain mugs is done for the night. Just a little bit of detailing & painting of colored slip accents. So now they’ll dry, go into a bisque kiln, get glazed & wadded, and then go into my next soda kiln firing. Lots of steps in the process… the process that I love!

Painting some accents & details on my new porcelain mugs. A little more flashing slip to will add some color & drama during the soda-firing.

Scratch, attach, repeat… repeat… repeat…
It’s been a very productive day playing with porcelain making more of my favorites!

Porcelain handles pulled… just setting up a bit before I start attaching. I like to sit them up in an arched curve as they stiffen up – so that the majority of the bending is already done so there’s less cracking if they dry out a bit too much.

Porcelain cylinders need porcelain handles to make them into porcelain mugs, right?! So this morning I’m making some handles out of these little nuggets of porcelain.